For the time being, it’s a little less crowded in first place in the MIAA men’s basketball standings. Calvin picked up an 82-67 victory at Alma Wednesday night to remain tied for first place in the league standings with rival Hope but also moved a game ahead of Albion which dropped into third place after falling at Tri-State 77-72 Wednesday evening.
Heading into Wednesday, Calvin, Hope and Albion were locked in a three-way tie for the MIAA’s top spot but now Calvin and Hope sit a game ahead of the Britons. Albion travels to Hope on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. game while Calvin will journey to Adrian for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
With its victory over Alma Wednesday night, Calvin (15-5 overall, 8-1 MIAA) reached the 15-win plateau for the 22nd straight year.
Calvin held control early on, rolling out to a 22-5 lead with 11:31 left in the first half and continuing on for a 45-29 halftime advantage.
Calvin maintained a double-digit edge until Alma (8-12 overall, 1-8 MIAA) ripped off a 16-7 scoring run to cut the deficit to single digits at 74-65 with 3:53 to play. Calvin held Alma without a field goal the rest of the way however while converting six free throws to seal the win.
Senior Andy Draayer and junior Josh Meckes led Calvin with 16 points apiece with Draayer hitting four three-pointers and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Over his last three games, Draayer is shooting 53.6 percent (15 of 28) from beyond the three-point arc. Senior Kyle Trewhella added 13 points and four assists while junior Kyle Snoeyink returned from an ankle injury to provide 10 points and six rebounds. Freshman Caleb Veldhouse also had nine points, five assists and four rebounds.
Calvin was strong in taking care of the ball as the Knights collected 16 assists against just nine turnovers while Alma turned the ball over 17 times.
Alma was led in scoring by Cory Massey with 15 points and nine rebounds while Carl Hills had 14 points and nine boards and Mike Murphy 12 points and nine rebounds.
Calvin held a 41-39 rebounding advantage and connected on 19 of 29 (.655) at the free throw line while Alma was 13 of 16 (.813) at the charity stripe. The Scots also connected on 42.4 percent (14 of 33) of its three-point field goal attempts.
Newspaper Box Score Calvin College vs Alma College 02/01/06 7:30p.m. at Alma, MI At Alma, MI CALVIN COLLEGE 82, ALMA COLLEGE 67 CALVIN COLLEGE (15-5 (8-1)) Josh Meckes 6-7 4-5 16; Andy Draayer 5-10 2-4 16; Kyle Trewhella 5-12 3-6 13; Kyle Snoeyink 4-8 2-3 10; Caleb Veldhouse 2-10 5-6 9; Micah Chappell 3-8 0-0 6; Tyler Zoerhof 3-5 0-0 6; Dustin Smith 1-3 0-0 3; Eric DeVries 0-2 3-5 3; Kevin Prins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-65 19-29 82. ALMA COLLEGE (8-12 (1-8)) Cory Massey 4-19 6-6 16; Carl Hill 5-6 0-0 14; Mike Murphy 3-11 4-4 12; Isaac Smith 2-6 2-2 8; David McNally 2-7 0-1 5; Fred Anthony 1-3 1-2 4; Greg Nelson 1-3 0-1 3; Nate Jervey 1-3 0-0 3; Bener Sen 1-2 0-0 2; Matt Brown 0-0 0-0 0; Ryan DeHaan 0-0 0-0 0; Jason Latz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 13-16 67. Calvin College................ 45 37 - 82 Alma College.................. 29 38 - 67 3-point goals-Calvin College 5-17 (Andy Draayer 4-8; Dustin Smith 1-2; Caleb Veldhouse 0-1; Micah Chappell 0-3; Tyler Zoerhof 0-1; Kyle Trewhella 0-2), Alma College 14-33 (Carl Hill 4-5; Cory Massey 2-8; Mike Murphy 2-7; Isaac Smith 2-3; Nate Jervey 1-2; David McNally 1-2; Fred Anthony 1-2; Greg Nelson 1-3; Jason Latz 0-1). Fouled out--Calvin College-None, Alma College-David McNally; Carl Hill. Rebounds-Calvin College 41 (Andy Draayer 8), Alma College 39 (Carl Hill 9; Mike Murphy 9; Cory Massey 9). Assists-Calvin College 16 (Caleb Veldhouse 5), Alma College 14 (Isaac Smith 4; Mike Murphy 4). Total fouls-Calvin College 13, Alma College 23. A-233